rosco 357

Veteran

Registration date : 2008-04-18Number of posts : 6718Gender : Quote : Never Quote You May Have To Back It UpReputation : 1Points : 7397

MY WORDs; it was always said this would be online for all to read on monday, labor day and so it is. So here it is the speech he will give looks fine to me, as i said i think all president should do it, and more things, like bush as reading to a class on 9/11 , hope all had a good labor day.take care.http://www.whitehouse.gov/MediaResources/PreparedSchoolRemarks/

Prepared Remarks of President Barack ObamaBack to School Event

Arlington, VirginiaSeptember 8, 2009

The President: Hello everyone Ė howís everybody doing today? Iím here with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. And weíve got students tuning in from all across America, kindergarten through twelfth grade. Iím glad you all could join us today. I know that for many of you, today is the first day of school. And for those of you in kindergarten, or starting middle or high school, itís your first day in a new school, so itís understandable if youíre a little nervous. I imagine there are some seniors out there who are feeling pretty good right now, with just one more year to go. And no matter what grade youíre in, some of you are probably wishing it were still summer, and you couldíve stayed in bed just a little longer this morning.I know that feeling. When I was young, my family lived in Indonesia for a few years, and my mother didnít have the money to send me where all the American kids went to school. So she decided to teach me extra lessons herself, Monday through Friday Ė at 4:30 in the morning. Now I wasnít too happy about getting up that early. A lot of times, Iíd fall asleep right there at the kitchen table. But whenever Iíd complain, my mother would just give me one of those looks and say, "This is no picnic for me either, buster."So I know some of you are still adjusting to being back at school. But Iím here today because I have something important to discuss with you. Iím here because I want to talk with you about your education and whatís expected of all of you in this new school year. Now Iíve given a lot of speeches about education. And Iíve talked a lot about responsibility.Iíve talked about your teachersí responsibility for inspiring you, and pushing you to learn. Iíve talked about your parentsí responsibility for making sure you stay on track, and get your homework done, and donít spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with that Xbox. Iíve talked a lot about your governmentís responsibility for setting high standards, supporting teachers and principals, and turning around schools that arenít working where students arenít getting the opportunities they deserve. But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world Ė and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed. And thatís what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education. I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself. Every single one of you has something youíre good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. Thatís the opportunity an education can provide. Maybe you could be a good writer Ė maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper Ė but you might not know it until you write a paper for your English class. Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor Ė maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or a new medicine or vaccine Ė but you might not know it until you do a project for your science class. Maybe you could be a mayor or a Senator or a Supreme Court Justice, but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team.And no matter what you want to do with your life Ė I guarantee that youíll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? Youíre going to need a good education for every single one of those careers. You canít drop out of school and just drop into a good job. Youíve got to work for it and train for it and learn for it.And this isnít just important for your own life and your own future. What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country. What youíre learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future. Youíll need the knowledge and problem-solving skills you learn in science and math to cure diseases like cancer and AIDS, and to develop new energy technologies and protect our environment. Youíll need the insights and critical thinking skills you gain in history and social studies to fight poverty and homelessness, crime and discrimination, and make our nation more fair and more free. Youíll need the creativity and ingenuity you develop in all your classes to build new companies that will create new jobs and boost our economy. We need every single one of you to develop your talents, skills and intellect so you can help solve our most difficult problems. If you donít do that Ė if you quit on school Ė youíre not just quitting on yourself, youíre quitting on your country. Now I know itís not always easy to do well in school. I know a lot of you have challenges in your lives right now that can make it hard to focus on your schoolwork.I get it. I know what thatís like. My father left my family when I was two years old, and I was raised by a single mother who struggled at times to pay the bills and wasnít always able to give us things the other kids had. There were times when I missed having a father in my life. There were times when I was lonely and felt like I didnít fit in. So I wasnít always as focused as I should have been. I did some things Iím not proud of, and got in more trouble than I should have. And my life could have easily taken a turn for the worse. But I was fortunate. I got a lot of second chances and had the opportunity to go to college, and law school, and follow my dreams. My wife, our First Lady Michelle Obama, has a similar story. Neither of her parents had gone to college, and they didnít have much. But they worked hard, and she worked hard, so that she could go to the best schools in this country.Some of you might not have those advantages. Maybe you donít have adults in your life who give you the support that you need. Maybe someone in your family has lost their job, and thereís not enough money to go around. Maybe you live in a neighborhood where you donít feel safe, or have friends who are pressuring you to do things you know arenít right. But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life Ė what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what youíve got going on at home Ė thatís no excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude. Thatís no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. Thatís no excuse for not trying. Where you are right now doesnít have to determine where youíll end up. No oneís written your destiny for you. Here in America, you write your own destiny. You make your own future. Thatís what young people like you are doing every day, all across America. Young people like Jazmin Perez, from Roma, Texas. Jazmin didnít speak English when she first started school. Hardly anyone in her hometown went to college, and neither of her parents had gone either. But she worked hard, earned good grades, got a scholarship to Brown University, and is now in graduate school, studying public health, on her way to being Dr. Jazmin Perez.Iím thinking about Andoni Schultz, from Los Altos, California, whoís fought brain cancer since he was three. Heís endured all sorts of treatments and surgeries, one of which affected his memory, so it took him much longer Ė hundreds of extra hours Ė to do his schoolwork. But he never fell behind, and heís headed to college this fall. And then thereís Shantell Steve, from my hometown of Chicago, Illinois. Even when bouncing from foster home to foster home in the toughest neighborhoods, she managed to get a job at a local health center; start a program to keep young people out of gangs; and sheís on track to graduate high school with honors and go on to college.Jazmin, Andoni and Shantell arenít any different from any of you. They faced challenges in their lives just like you do. But they refused to give up. They chose to take responsibility for their education and set goals for themselves. And I expect all of you to do the same. Thatís why today, Iím calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education Ė and to do everything you can to meet them. Your goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework, paying attention in class, or spending time each day reading a book. Maybe youíll decide to get involved in an extracurricular activity, or volunteer in your community. Maybe youíll decide to stand up for kids who are being teased or bullied because of who they are or how they look, because you believe, like I do, that all kids deserve a safe environment to study and learn. Maybe youíll decide to take better care of yourself so you can be more ready to learn. And along those lines, I hope youíll all wash your hands a lot, and stay home from school when you donít feel well, so we can keep people from getting the flu this fall and winter.Whatever you resolve to do, I want you to commit to it. I want you to really work at it. I know that sometimes, you get the sense from TV that you can be rich and successful without any hard work -- that your ticket to success is through rapping or basketball or being a reality TV star, when chances are, youíre not going to be any of those things. But the truth is, being successful is hard. You wonít love every subject you study. You wonít click with every teacher. Not every homework assignment will seem completely relevant to your life right this minute. And you wonít necessarily succeed at everything the first time you try.Thatís OK. Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones whoíve had the most failures. JK Rowlingís first Harry Potter book was rejected twelve times before it was finally published. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team, and he lost hundreds of games and missed thousands of shots during his career. But he once said, "I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed." These people succeeded because they understand that you canít let your failures define you Ė you have to let them teach you. You have to let them show you what to do differently next time. If you get in trouble, that doesnít mean youíre a troublemaker, it means you need to try harder to behave. If you get a bad grade, that doesnít mean youíre stupid, it just means you need to spend more time studying. No oneís born being good at things, you become good at things through hard work. Youíre not a varsity athlete the first time you play a new sport. You donít hit every note the first time you sing a song. Youíve got to practice. Itís the same with your schoolwork. You might have to do a math problem a few times before you get it right, or read something a few times before you understand it, or do a few drafts of a paper before itís good enough to hand in. Donít be afraid to ask questions. Donít be afraid to ask for help when you need it. I do that every day. Asking for help isnít a sign of weakness, itís a sign of strength. It shows you have the courage to admit when you donít know something, and to learn something new. So find an adult you trust Ė a parent, grandparent or teacher; a coach or counselor Ė and ask them to help you stay on track to meet your goals. And even when youíre struggling, even when youíre discouraged, and you feel like other people have given up on you Ė donít ever give up on yourself. Because when you give up on yourself, you give up on your country.The story of America isnít about people who quit when things got tough. Itís about people who kept going, who tried harder, who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best. Itís the story of students who sat where you sit 250 years ago, and went on to wage a revolution and found this nation. Students who sat where you sit 75 years ago who overcame a Depression and won a world war; who fought for civil rights and put a man on the moon. Students who sat where you sit 20 years ago who founded Google, Twitter and Facebook and changed the way we communicate with each other.So today, I want to ask you, whatís your contribution going to be? What problems are you going to solve? What discoveries will you make? What will a president who comes here in twenty or fifty or one hundred years say about what all of you did for this country? Your families, your teachers, and I are doing everything we can to make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions. Iím working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books, equipment and computers you need to learn. But youíve got to do your part too. So I expect you to get serious this year. I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you. So donít let us down Ė donít let your family or your country or yourself down. Make us all proud. I know you can do it.Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America.

Last edited by rosco 357 on Mon Sep 07, 2009 5:05 pm; edited 1 time in total (Reason for editing : i forgot to put in the URL)

gypsy

runawayhorses wrote:Great speech, I actually have tears in my eyes right now, seriously.

it was very emotional ,I have heard him say (Obama )that when he makes a speech he doesn't want to give it in writing in advance, because then people will read it an not tune in for the actual impact of speaking the words an seeing the facial expressions that is why it is called a speech not a writing...I think republicans and rush an the other idiot,as usual spreading the fear factor. that is sad that people want him to fail,because it is the country they aren't thiinking of.. anyway glad I got that out of my system..

SSC

When you speak to children, especially in the politically high emotional times open context is the key. No matter what the arrogant Dems would like us all to believe many of their own party questioned the motives and reason and content of this speech. I am glad it is to the point and doesn't waiver. I am sure the last minute rewriting cleaned up the content.

Guest

Guest

SSC wrote: "I am sure the last minute rewriting cleaned up the content." /// They had to. I alluded to the "politics of 1984" and "big brother" before yet I also said that I don't think Obama has ambitions to be "big brother" himself. It becomes clear in that monumental work, 1984,that Orwell wanted to point out that no coup or revolution took place to rob the people of their freedoms. And neither were protests made or many questions asked. It just evolved that government employed more and more controls of everyday life. Orwell wrote his book when Hitler was in the ascendency in Europe and his cult of personality was in full swing. The White House is re-writing history and bending established law to advance their programs. "Healthcare Reform" became "Insurance Reform", became "A Public Option". Newspeak. Whether or not one feels there are some benefits is beside the point. Hitler was a socialist who rebuilt the German economy and restored Germany's position in the world. He was LOVED by the German people. How many steps should we take before we step off that cliff? Where are the lines? The map is in the Constitution, not in Nancy Pelosi's desk.

rosco 357

Registration date : 2008-04-18Number of posts : 6718Gender : Quote : Never Quote You May Have To Back It UpReputation : 1Points : 7397

SSC wrote:Well thank god we have FOX...at least they aren't in someone's pocket and afraid to broadcast the real news.

i have been watching cnn today or not watching but had it on, and atleast the anchor i watched as he caught my attention, he seemed smarter than the anchors on fox, so for a while i think im going to watch cnn, i disagree on fox posting the real news, some yes but they all speak and play to who they know there audience is, fox gets the conservative audience so they play to them... for the most part, but like if it a train wreck they are reporting on, they all are the same...

SSC

During the day Fox is extremly up to date on nearly all the issues and they do cover both sides. CNN repeats itself about every 3 hrs. They have good broadcasting but I watched the Gupta report 4 times yesterday on CNN same thing over and over.